Departmental Pay

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimate he has made of the average pay per hour worked by  (a) permanent and  (b) temporary staff in his Department in the last period for which figures are available, broken down by pay band.

David Cairns: Staff in the Scotland Office are on secondment from the Scottish Executive or the Ministry of Justice and the Office reimburses those Departments for the costs involved. The Office does not maintain a record of the hourly pay of staff; such information is held by the parent Departments.

Peter Hain

Frank Field: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission whether the Commission has received a report from the police on the case of the right hon. Member for Neath (Mr. Hain).

Peter Viggers: The Electoral Commission informs me that it has received no such report.

Invalid Vehicles: Greater London

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which London boroughs operate a Shopmobility scheme; and what funding is provided for the scheme from the public purse in each of those boroughs.

Rosie Winterton: We understand that there are three Shopmobility schemes operating in London: in Camden, Kensington and Chelsea and Wood Green. Shopmobility centres are not centrally funded by government and data regarding how much funding these schemes receive is therefore not available.

Oil: Prices

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate she has made of the change in levels of  (a) urban and  (b) inter-urban congestion following recent increases in the price of oil.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 23 June 2008
	Data on urban and inter-urban congestion can be found in the Department's Transport Statistics Bulletin, Road Traffic and Congestion in Great Britain Q1 2008 at:
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/162259/162469/221412/221546/224925/224965/368305/368322/roadtraffgbq12008.pdf.
	Provisional data on inter-urban congestion up to March 2008 are included in this bulletin. May 2008 data will be released on 3 July. Data on urban congestion are included for the period to August 2007. We have not yet analysed our urban data after this date and so do not have an estimate of changes in congestion since then.
	BERR have recently published new oil price projections in light of a consultation on them that ended early this year. They can be found at:
	http://www.berr.gov.uk/energy/environment/projections/recent/page26391.html.
	BERR propose reviewing these assumptions on a regular basis, at least annually.
	We are currently in the process of producing new road transport forecasts (which will include congestion) based upon these updated oil price projections. We are also aiming to release new appraisal guidance with fuel prices based upon them shortly.

Railways: Rolling Stock

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent assessment she has made of the number of uncommitted carriages held by rolling stock companies available for use by train operating companies who wish to lease extra carriages.

Tom Harris: holding answer 13 June 2008
	There has been no formal assessment carried out. It is up to the leasing companies to manage their portfolio of vehicles and offer them for lease to the market. However, current market indications are that there is very little suitable off lease rolling stock available. Any vehicles which are off lease are being offered to the operators.

Roads

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport under what circumstances control of an A road would be moved from the local authority to the Highways Agency.

Tom Harris: The roads managed by the Highways Agency on behalf of the Secretary of State are of strategic importance, either nationally or regionally, and carry large volumes of long distance traffic.
	The composition of the strategic road network was reviewed as part of the Government's Transport White Paper, "A New Deal for Transport: Better for Everyone", published in 1998. The factors taken into account in identifying this network are set out in the White Paper, and in the accompanying document, "A New Deal for Trunk Roads in England".
	If the Secretary of State for Transport were to judge that the function of a local authority road had changed such that it now met the factors established in that White Paper, or if a road formed a better alternative to an existing trunk road, the road could be transferred to the strategic road network and managed by the Highways Agency.
	The only other circumstances where this can occur is during the delivery of major improvement schemes to the strategic road network, when very short sections (a few hundred metres or less) of local authority controlled roads can be transferred to the Highways Agency as part of the re-alignment of roads and re-configuration of junctions required by the scheme.

Roads: Planning

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what her Department's definition of route protection status is in the context of planned road developments.

Tom Harris: The Highways Agency issues a Direction (TR111) under article 15 of the Town and Country Planning General Development Procedure Order 1995 which requires a local planning authority to:
	Refer planning applications, which fall within 67 metres of the centre line of the proposed route, to the agency, whereby the agency could impose a direction restricting development
	Notify anyone who submits a local search on a property within 200 metres of the proposed route.
	In most cases a TR111 is put in place at the same time as a preferred route is announced.

Rolling Stock: Consultants

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much her Department had spent on consultancy fees on the procurement of new Pendolino carriages for the West Coast Main Line on the latest date for which figures are available.

Tom Harris: There are two components associated with this project. The first is the four new 11 car sets which are the replacements for the Grayrigg set, written off after the accident. The second component is the new 62 vehicles to be added to the existing fleet so that 31 trains are extended from nine to 11 cars. The total consultants fee up to end of period two (24 May 2008) for both the replacement sets and the new 31 two car sets is £518,000 on a project budget of £169 million for the period to 2014.

Transport: Bedfordshire

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment she has made of the relative merits of  (a) a guided busway and  (b) a reinstated railway between Luton and Dunstable; what account she has taken of (i) climate change policy and (ii) the trend in oil prices in forming her view; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 24 June 2008
	The Luton to Dunstable Busway local transport major scheme is being promoted by Luton borough council. The proposed scheme involves the construction of approximately 12 km of busway, linking the centres of Luton, Dunstable and Houghton Regis with London Luton airport.
	As part of the process of assessing whether the Busway was the best option to progress, I understand the council evaluated a number of alternative schemes including heavy rail and light rail. The assessment concluded that none of the alternative options provided as good value for money as the Busway.
	The scheme was granted initial Government funding approval in December 2003. Following two public inquiries, the scheme secured all its statutory powers in November 2006 under the Transport and Works Act.
	The Department for Transport is now currently considering a request from Luton borough council to move the scheme to the next approval stage within the Department's local major scheme process. As part of our assessment of Luton's Conditional Approval bid, the Department will be revisiting the earlier analysis of the environmental and modelling aspects of the scheme in the light of developments since Programme Entry was granted in 2003.

Transport: Exhaust Emissions

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2008,  Official Report, column 38W, on transport exhaust emissions, what mechanism is in place to achieve the European Commission's 16 per cent. greenhouse gas reduction target over 2005 levels for the UK's non-traded sector, with specific reference to the reduction to be made in the road transport sector.

Jim Fitzpatrick: holding answer 16 June 2008
	The EU's proposed 16 per cent. burden-sharing target for the UK's non-traded sector is still subject to negotiation and applies to the entire non-traded sector. As such it will not be broken down into specific sectoral shares, for example between the transport and domestic heating sectors. The Government's framework for managing carbon budgets, including road transport emissions, will be established under the Climate Change Bill currently before Parliament.
	Further details are available from the Bill website:
	http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/climatechange/uk/legislation/index.htm
	In summary this framework will involve a requirement to meet emissions reduction targets in 2020 and 2050, and to set legally-binding five-year carbon budgets starting from 2008. It will also involve annual progress reporting to Parliament and advice to Government and scrutiny from the independent Committee on Climate Change. In setting these budgets the Government will take account of their international and domestic obligations such as the EU's Climate and Energy package (including the 16 per cent. burden sharing target) and the Kyoto target.

Waterloo Station

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when she expects the former Eurostar platforms at Waterloo to reopen for use for domestic rail services.

Tom Harris: The Department is working closely with Network Rail and Stagecoach South Western Trains (SSWT) to finalise the design and costs of the partial conversion of Waterloo International to accommodate some domestic services. Therefore some services, most likely on the routes to Windsor and Reading, could use platform 20 of Waterloo International from the timetable change date in December 2008.
	It is primarily the railway infrastructure outside Waterloo that limits the number of trains that can use the station rather than the number of platforms. Therefore the need is to run longer trains rather than more trains. So we are planning to make all the platforms at Waterloo long enough to accommodate 10 car trains and to modify the junction layouts on the approaches to the station so that, ultimately, all the platforms at Waterloo, including those once used by Eurostar, can be used by 10 car domestic services. Such a scheme would allow the use of longer trains than currently use the short platforms and would result in a large increase in capacity on the South Western network.

Fisheries

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which species fished by UK vessels have fallen below sustainable fishing levels; and in which year fish stocks were first threatened in each case.

Jonathan R Shaw: Since 1998, the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) has applied precautionary reference points as the basis for its advice, identifying which harvesting rates meet precautionary criteria. These criteria aim to ensure sustainability by keeping spawning stock biomass (SSB, the weight of mature fish) above a minimum precautionary level, Bpa (set high enough to allow a margin of error sufficient to keep SSB above a lower limit level, Blim), and keeping the fishing rate (F) below a maximum precautionary level, Fpa (set low enough to allow a margin of error sufficient to keep F below an upper limit level, Flim).
	Based on advice from ICES in 2007, which evaluated stock assessments using fisheries data for years up to and including 2006, and survey data up to and including 2007, the following stocks fished by the UK have experienced unsustainable fishing levels when compared to the maximum precautionary level:
	 (i) North Sea
	Herring since 2006
	 (ii) West of Scotland
	Haddock since 2006
	 (iii) Irish Sea
	Cod since the introduction of precautionary reference points in 1998, sole since 2006
	 (iv) Western Channel
	Both plaice and sole since the introduction of precautionary reference points in 1998
	 (v) Widely distributed
	North-east Atlantic mackerel since 2001, blue whiting since 1999
	For a number of stocks it has not been possible to make a quantitative comparison because the level of F was uncertain in 2007. This includes some stocks which have shown a long-term decline such as cod in the west of Scotland.

Litter: North East

Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many fixed penalty notices have been issued for litter-dropping in  (a) Wirral West constituency and  (b) Merseyside in the last 18 months; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the issue of fixed penalty notices on littering in urban areas.

Jonathan R Shaw: Defra collects data on the number of fixed penalty notices issued for litter-dropping by each local authority in England. The table contains statistics on the number of fixed penalty notices issued and reported by each local authority in Merseyside.
	
		
			  Local authority  April 2005 to  March 2006  April 2006 to  March 2007 
			 Knowsley 72 21 
			 Liverpool 100 757 
			 Sefton 0 0 
			 St. Helens 0 4 
			 Wirral 151 (1)— 
			 (1 )No data. 
		
	
	A full breakdown of the available data can be found on the Defra website.
	Defra has not carried out a direct assessment of the impact of fixed penalty notices on instances of littering.
	Local authorities in England have the power to issue fixed penalty notices for littering offences, or can choose to take a prosecution. English local authorities issued 43,624 fixed penalty notices for littering offences in 2006-07 compared to 33,033 in 2005-06. The payment rate was 77.1 per cent. in 2006-07 compared to 54 per cent. in 2005-06. 233 local authorities made use of the powers to issue fixed penalty notices in 2006-07 compared to 197 in 2005-06. Local authorities have a variety of tools available to them to make local assessments as part of their cleansing and enforcement strategies, including data sources such as the national indicator on cleanliness, the Local Environmental Quality Survey of England and the extended Local Environmental Quality Survey of England.

Maps: EC Law

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether he plans to consult on legislative and other means of implementing the Inspire Directive.

Jonathan R Shaw: DEFRA has been working with stakeholders across central, devolved and local government, as well as the wider geographic information community in considering how to implement the INSPIRE Directive. We will, in due course, be consulting further on how we propose to transpose the directive into UK legislation, and on its subsequent implementation.

Marine Management Organisation

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what budget has been allocated to the Marine Management Organisation implementation team within the Marine and Fisheries Agency; and what the grade of the Director of the team is.

Jonathan R Shaw: I am keen to achieve a smooth transition from the Marine and Fisheries Agency to the Marine Management Organisation, and to start work towards the new organisation in good time. A budget of £1 million has been allocated to support the continued development of the Marine and Fisheries Agency in 2008-09, mindful of its probable transition to the MMO. This work is not dependent on the parliamentary process.
	The post of director, MMO implementation team is at grade 6.

Sewers: Urban Areas

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations he has received on the  (a) responsibility for,  (b) ownership of and  (c) maintenance of urban drainage systems; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: Defra recently consulted on options for the allocation of responsibility for the ownership and long-term maintenance of sustainable drainage systems, as part of the consultation on "Improving Surface Water Drainage". This consultation was launched alongside the Government's Water Strategy, "Future Water", and closed on 30 April 2008. We will publish a summary of the responses in late July, followed by a Government response to the consultation and proposed course of action later in the year.

Solvents: Waste Disposal

Denis Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what advice he has issued to local authorities in relation to the disposal of waste paints and solvents from domestic properties.

Joan Ruddock: I approved the recently published National Household Hazardous Waste Forum's "Haz Guide", which provides advice on the disposal of waste paints and solvents.
	This can be found on the internet on the National Household Hazardous Waste Forum's website at:
	www.nhhf.org.uk.

Carers' Allowances: Hemsworth

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people receive carer's allowance in  (a) Hemsworth constituency and  (b) Wakefield district.

Anne McGuire: The available information is in the following table.
	
		
			  Carer's Allowance cases in payment: November 2007 
			   Number 
			 Hemsworth parliamentary constituency 1,090 
			 Wakefield metropolitan district council 3,310 
			  Notes: 1. Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Totals show the number of people in receipt of an allowance, and exclude people with entitlement where the payment has been suspended.  3. This information is published at http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/tabtool.asp  Source:  DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.

Children: Maintenance

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will bring forward amendments to regulations governing child support so that payments received in lieu of a company car are treated in the same way as the provision of a company car in calculating the level of child maintenance.

James Plaskitt: Payments made in lieu of a company car are treated as income within the child maintenance calculation, in the event that such payments are subject to tax. There are no plans to amend regulations in this respect.
	However under child support legislation, expenses incurred by persons "wholly, exclusively and necessarily" in the course of their employment are disregarded as income when the child maintenance liability is calculated. In some cases this can include expenses relating to company cars.

Cycling

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make it his policy to extend the cycle to work scheme to employees in his Department.

Anne McGuire: It is this Departments policy to extend the cycle to work scheme for our employees. The scheme will be launched in autumn 2008.

Industrial Accidents: Vehicles

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for what reasons fatalities involving at-work vehicles are not included in the fatalities of workers recorded annually by the Health and Safety Executive; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: holding answer 20 June 2008
	Fatalities recorded by the HSE are notified under the Reporting of Injuries Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR) which only require employers to notify HSE of fatal accidents that occur within the workplace or where they involve a specific road side activity.
	The police are responsible for the investigation of fatalities that occur on public roads, whether or not the vehicle is involved in a work activity, and collect information which is used by the Department for Transport to compile their Annual Statistics on Road Casualties.

Industrial Health and Safety: Redcliffe Bay

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether a risk assessment of the Redcliffe Bay oil storage depot site near Portishead has been completed by the Health and Safety Executive.

Anne McGuire: The Oil and Pipelines Agency (OPA), as the operator of the Redcliffe Bay fuel storage depot has the duty under the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations (COMAH), to conduct and complete a risk assessment for the site.
	COMAH Regulations are enforced in England and Wales by a competent authority comprising of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Environmental Agency (EA).
	OPA has produced a safety report which included the main results and arguments of the hazard analysis and risk analysis and submitted this to the competent authority for assessment as required by COMAH. In the safety report OPA was required to demonstrate that it has taken all measures necessary to prevent major accidents and to limit the consequences to people and the environment of any that might occur. HSE has completed its part of the competent authority's assessment of the Redcliffe Bay Safety report and this has been included in the competent authority's conclusions on its overall determination of the case for safety made by OPA in the report.

Departmental Official Hospitality

Mark Hoban: To ask the Solicitor-General what the  (a) date,  (b) venue,  (c) total and  (d) per capita cost of all internal staff parties held by (i) the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office and (ii) other agencies in her Department have been in the last 12 months.

Vera Baird: There has been only one internal staff party held by the Attorney-General's Office and its superintended Departments in the last 12 months. This was held by the Serious Fraud Office on 5 October 2007 at the Serious Fraud Office, Elm House. The total cost was £685.59, the per capita cost was £4.66.

Equality

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will take steps to establish a strategy to tackle age discrimination and promote age equality in the provision of goods and services by the Department; and if he will make a statement.

Shaun Woodward: As responsibility for equality matters in the Northern Ireland Civil Service (stemming from statutory obligations arising from Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998) has been devolved to a local administration the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has no direct responsibility for the development of proposals to tackle age discrimination and promote age equality in the provision of goods and services.

Irish Language: Broadcasting

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the purposes are of the £6 million allocated by his Department for Irish language broadcasting; and if he will make a statement.

Shaun Woodward: The additional money is being provided to enable the Irish Language Broadcasting Fund to continue beyond its current end date of 2009 to the end of the CSR period.
	The fund was established in response to the Joint Declaration of 2003 for the purpose of providing financial support for Irish language film and television production.

Animal Experiments

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many animal experiments carried out between 2002 and 2004 had death as an end point, broken down by categories of usage defined in the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.

Meg Hillier: The Home Office does not authorise death as an experimental endpoint. Where death as a result of the authorised treatment or procedure can be expected, we strive to set earlier endpoints so that animals are killed before they reach a point at which death would occur. We do not, therefore, collect or hold the information requested.

Identity and Passport Service: Glasgow

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the decision to downgrade the Glasgow office of the Passport Agency was taken.

Meg Hillier: The Identity and Passport Service (IPS) Board met on 31 March 2008 to consider the proposal to remove back office operations from Glasgow office. IPS is now in a 90 days consultation period with the trade union side before IPS can make a final decision on how to proceed. That consultation period started on 8 April 2008.

Identity and Passport Service: Glasgow

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Identity and Passport Service instructed Post Office Ltd. to redirect mail for the Glasgow office of the Passport Agency to centres in Peterborough and Durham.

Meg Hillier: The Identity and Passport Service (IPS) has not instructed Post Office Ltd. to redirect mail for the Glasgow Passport Agency to IPS offices in Peterborough and Durham. Postal application processing continues at the Glasgow office.

Identity and Passport Service: Translation Services

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much the Identity and Passport Service spent on translation services for those applying for a passport in  (a) 2006 and  (b) 2007.

Meg Hillier: In the 2006 calendar year IPS spent £3,000 on translation services. In the 2007 calendar year IPS spent £117,000 on translation services. (Figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000.)

Identity Cards

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how a single audit trail will be created from the identity card transactions linked to the biometric, biographic and administrative databases which will make up the National Identity Register.

Meg Hillier: holding answer 29 April 2008
	An audit record will be kept of occasions when an individual's record is checked or amended. The biometric, biographic and administrative components of the national identity register will each have their own audit record so information from these individual audit records will only be brought together to support the security of the register, in the interests of national security or the prevention and detection of serious crime or to respond to an individual's request for data subject access.

Identity Cards

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many fingerprints from a person's hand are planned to be recorded and stored on identity cards.

Meg Hillier: The information, including the number of biometric fingerprints to be recorded and stored in the chip on the identity card for British citizens will be prescribed in secondary legislation to be approved by Parliament under section 6 of the Identity Cards Act 2006. However, our intention is that during the enrolment process we will record 10 fingerprint images which will be stored on the national identity register with two of the holder's fingerprints stored on the chip on the identity card. This is also the procedure planned for the identity card to be issued to foreign nationals.

Passports

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 12 March 2008,  Official Report, column 410W, on passports, what the reason is for the difference in current average processing time for straightforward, properly completed passport applications between each of the regional offices excluding London.

Meg Hillier: holding answer 31 March 2008
	The amount of postal work received in each office in 2006 varied according to the local catchment area, transfers of work between offices to match short term capacity to demand, and the office's capacity to deal with the applications received. The policy is to ensure that all straight forward properly completed applications are processed within 10 days. In 2006, the average time within which applications were processed ranged from 3.4 to 5.3 working days.

Research Development and Statistics Directorate: Publications

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what percentage of reports produced by her Department's Research, Development and Statistics Directorate have been published in the last 10 years; and what the titles of the unpublished reports are.

Meg Hillier: Most Home Office research reports are published except where the Home Office Chief Scientific Adviser decides not to publish in a Home Office series on the grounds of inadequate scientific quality following independent and external peer review or the results are badly out of date or on public interest grounds.
	Since 1998 a total of 993 research and statistics outputs have been completed and published. Details of these publications are available on the Research, Development and Statistics website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pubsintro1.html.
	We have not identified any publishable research reports produced in the period 1997-2001 that have not been published, but completing a full search of available records cannot be undertaken without incurring disproportionate cost.
	For the period 2001-08 the following 22 completed research reports were produced but have not been published. This excludes projects where no report of publishable standard was produced. During the period 2001-08, 800 research outputs were published, hence the percentage not published in this period is just over 2 per cent.
	 Reports where a decision was made for the research to have limited distribution on the grounds of security, or practical operational  considerations
	Merseyside Middle Market Drugs Unit Evaluation and Middle Market Drug Evaluation—Wales (Operation Tarian)
	An Examination of Referrals to Multi-Agency Public Protection Panels in 2002-03
	Dealing with Mentally Disordered Offenders in the National Probation Service
	Enforcement of warrants
	ECP placement providers
	Information held on forensic databases
	Research into police complaints
	Exploring the geodemographic and distant relationships between stranger rapists and their offences
	Predicting the accuracy of stranger rape victims' statements
	Homicide enquiries that begin as missing persons enquiries
	Research into gay victim homicides
	The Sentencer Information Service (SIS)
	 Research that was not published
	Neighbourhood wardens: an evaluation of selected schemes
	Approved premises: referrals, admissions and outcomes
	Implementing Diversionary Restorative Justice: Lessons learnt
	Process study of offender management in the North West region
	Organised crime: revenues, economic and social costs, and criminal assets available for seizure
	 Completed  r esearch where release has not been confirmed at this  time
	UK annex to "Conditions of entry and residence of third country highly skilled workers in the EU": a European Migration Network (EMN) study(1)
	UK annex to "Return": an EMN study(1)
	Anti-social and other problem behaviours among young children: patterns and associated child characteristics
	Characteristics associated with resilience in children at high risk of involvement in antisocial behaviour
	Anti-social and other problem behaviours among young children: findings from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Childhood.
	(1 )Approval to publish has been given for these reports.

Defence Equipment

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of  (a) weapons mounted installation kits,  (b) Warrior vehicles,  (c) Saxon vehicles,  (d) Scimitar vehicles,  (e) combat vehicle reconnaissance tracked vehicles and  (f) .5 inch heavy machine guns have been fit for service in each year since 2003.

Bob Ainsworth: Officials are currently compiling information from a range of sources which will take some time to complete. I will therefore write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
	 Substantive answer from Bob Ainsworth to Nick Harvey:
	I undertook to write to you in answer to your Parliamentary Question on 6 March 2008 (Official Report, column 2709W) about equipments fit for service and available for Army training.
	The percentage of specific equipments fit for service in each year since 2005 are shown in the table below. Information is not available prior to 2005.
	
		
			  Percentage 
			   2005  2006  2007  2008 
			 WMIK 72 70 71 76 
			 WARRIOR 62 53 44 46 
			 SAXON 62 65 33 33 
			 CVR(T)(1) 67 56 50 50 
			 (1) CVRT figures include SCIMITAR (which is a CVR(T) variant) 
		
	
	The main SAXON variant—the General War Role (GWR) was drawn down and disposed of in 2007 leaving two much smaller fleets of specialist SAXON variants. Relatively minor fluctuations in availability in these small fleets have a marked effect on the overall percentage compared to their effect on the previously existing significantly larger fleet. Availability data is not collated centrally for 0.5 inch Heavy Machine Gun.
	You also asked about specified equipment types available for Army training in each year since 1997.
	In theory the whole fleet is available for training including the deployed assets since some training is undertaken in operational theatres, although, of course, at any one time a number of equipments will be under repair, maintenance, conversion etc.
	This number will vary from day to day and we do not maintain statistics on average availability. We can however provide snapshots as I did in my reply of 20 February 2008 (Official Report, column 699W). I attach a copy of the relevant Hansard extract.

Departmental Buildings

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department has spent on  (a) new capital investment and  (b) refurbishment of property in each of the last 10 years, broken down by project.

Derek Twigg: The information is not held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	However, in Financial Year 2006-07 the Department spent over £600 million on property and other infrastructure capital investment (not including equivalent PFI expenditure). The diverse nature of the estate means that this investment could relate to projects ranging from new housing and accommodation blocks, to re-surfacing of runways and specialist military infrastructure.
	Refurbishment of property is not readily distinguishable from other maintenance expenditure except to the extent that costs are capitalised and included within other capital investment.

Departmental Marketing

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department and its agencies spent on branding and marketing activity in 2007-08.

Derek Twigg: Ministry of Defence accounts for the 2007-08 financial year are currently being audited so final figures on marketing and branding expenditure are not yet available.

European Fighter Aircraft

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Eurofighter Typhoons are now in service with the RAF; when the remainder are scheduled to enter service; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Ainsworth: 49 Tranche 1 aircraft are now in service with the RAF. Deliveries from Tranche 2 (91 aircraft) are planned to commence in September 2008 and to continue until 2013-14. Negotiations with Partner Nations and industry on Tranche 3 are under way and expected to continue throughout this year.

Military Aircraft: Repairs and Maintenance

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the percentage shortfall in availability of spare parts for each type of Royal Air Force  (a) fast jet,  (b) tanker and transport aircraft and  (c) maritime reconnaissance aircraft.

Bob Ainsworth: The off the shelf satisfaction rate (OTSSR), defined as the percentage of demands for spares satisfied direct from MOD stock is as follows:
	
		
			  Aircraft  OTSSR( 1)  (percentage) 
			 Typhoon 72 
			 Harrier 97 
			 Tornado F3 97 
			 Tornado GR4 98 
			 Hawk (2)— 
			 Tristar 87 
			 VC10 86 
			 C-17A Globemaster (2)— 
			 Nimrod MR2 97 
			 (1) As at 30 April 2008. (2) Provided under an aircraft availability contract with industry; spares availability is not measured. 
		
	
	For Hercules CI30, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 24 April 2008,  Official Report, column 2178W.

Television

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department spent on  (a) commissioning and  (b) funding the production of television programmes (i) in each of the last three years and (ii) in 2008-09 to date; what programmes these were; and which companies made them.

Derek Twigg: The MOD does not generally fund the commissioning or production of any television programmes. Documentaries are funded by the television companies who pay for additional use of MOD assets.
	The Ministry of Defence has, however, partially funded one television series in the period stated. This series was entitled 'Everest—Man to Man' and was jointly funded by the Army and the Bravo television channel. The Army invested £230,000 in the Bravo production which was a six part documentary showing the variety and challenges of life in the service and the quality and training of personnel.

Wood

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how much timber and timber products were procured by his Department in each of the last five years; and at what cost;
	(2)  how much timber and timber products were procured by his Department originating from independently verified legal and sustainable sources or from a licensed FLEGT partner in each of the last five years; and at what cost.

Derek Twigg: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	MOD policy requires that all timber or wood-containing products, excluding paper, paper products and card, must be procured from legal sources. In addition, every effort is to be made to acquire these items from a sustainable source. Where practicable, the use of reclaimed, re-used or recycled timber or timber products should be considered.
	These requirements have been published in a Department Timber Strategy which can be found on the MOD website at:
	http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/AboutDefence/WhatWeDo/HealthandSafety/DSC/ModTimberStrategy.htm
	This strategy incorporates the revised Government requirements for procurement of timber, which will apply from 2009 and 2015 respectively.

Homelessness

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the level of homelessness was in each region in each of the last 10 years, broken down by  (a) ethnicity and  (b) disability.

Iain Wright: Information about English local authorities' actions under the homelessness legislation is collected quarterly at local authority level.
	Information collected includes the number of households accepted by local housing authorities as eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need, and therefore owed a main homelessness duty (to secure that suitable accommodation is available). If a settled home is not immediately available, the authority must secure temporary accommodation until a settled home becomes available.
	National and regional data on acceptances and temporary accommodation is published in our quarterly statistical release on Statutory Homelessness. This is published on our website and placed in the Library each quarter. The latest release was published on 12 June 2008, and provides national and regional acceptance figures in table 3, and temporary accommodation figures in table 7, both back to 1997:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/xls/840324.xls
	Information collected on acceptances includes details on  (a) the ethnicity of the applicant, and  (b) acceptances found to be in priority need through vulnerable due to the applicant or member of the household having a physical disability or mental illness/disability. Though the information is collected on a quarterly basis, extracting 10 years worth of data would exceed disproportionate cost thresholds. We have provided three years worth of data in the answer: for 1998-99 (10 years ago), 2003-04 (when total acceptances peaked), and 2007-08 (the most recent year for which data are available).
	 (a) Table 1 shows the total number of accepted households in each region by ethnicity 1998-99, 2003-04 and 2007-08:
	
		
			  Table 1: Households accepted as owed a main homelessness duty, by ethnicity 
			   1998-99 
			   White  Black  Asian  Other ethnicity  Not stated  Total acceptances 
			 North East 4,080 — 30 30 330 4,460 
			 North West 10,000 220 400 220 2,260 13,090 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 7,040 150 400 210 410 8,200 
			 East Midlands 6,710 140 370 80 350 7,650 
			 West Midlands 11,350 810 1,080 300 440 13,990 
			 East of England 7,810 130 170 170 400 8,690 
			 London 11,510 5,340 2,430 5,070 2,240 26,590 
			 South East 11,310 220 350 280 520 12,660 
			 South West 8,440 90 50 80 270 8,930 
			 England 78,250 7,090 5,280 6,440 7,200 104,270 
		
	
	
		
			   2003-04 
			   White  Black  Asian  Other ethnic origin  Not known  Total acceptances 
			 North East 7,630 100 80 150 400 8,350 
			 North West 15,250 630 660 620 880 18,040 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 11,500 440 470 1,470 2,300 16,190 
			 East Midlands 7,950 410 420 290 530 9,600 
			 West Midlands 11,730 1,230 1,280 680 680 15,600 
			 East of England 9,670 230 280 470 540 11,190 
			 London 11,100 9,210 3,310 4,850 1,620 30,080 
			 South East 13,220 350 440 560 590 15,150 
			 South West 10,030 350 80 360 400 11,230 
			 England 98,080 12,960 7,020 9,430 7,930 135,420 
		
	
	
		
			   2007-08 
			   White  Black  Asian  Mixed ethnicity  Other ethnicity  Not stated  Total acceptances 
			 North East 3,370 70 80 20 40 40 3,600 
			 North West 7,170 390 320 140 190 330 8,540 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 5,540 370 380 150 150 760 7,350 
			 East Midlands 4,120 270 190 110 50 40 4,780 
			 West Midlands 6,100 850 850 270 290 790 9,160 
			 East of England 5,130 240 200 90 60 200 5,910 
			 London 5,340 4,320 1,590 520 1,070 960 13,800 
			 South East 4,740 220 190 80 80 200 5,510 
			 South West 4,000 180 50 60 40 210 4,520 
			 England 45,490 6,900 3,860 1,430 1,980 3,510 63,170 
			  Note: Some totals may differ slightly from those in the Statistical Release, due to rounding 
		
	
	 (b) Table 2 shows the number of accepted households in each region where the priority need category was being vulnerable as a result of (i) physical disability and (ii) mental illness or disability in 1998-99, 2003-04, and 2007-08:
	
		
			  Table 2: Households accepted as owed a main homelessness duty, by priority need category 
			   Applicant/household vulnerable due to: 
			   (i) Physical disability  (ii) Mental illness or disability  All priority need categories 
			  1998-99
			 North East 170 180 4,460 
			 North West 390 650 13,090 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 240 430 8,200 
			 East Midlands 250 310 7,650 
			 West Midlands 500 670 13,990 
			 East of England 420 800 8,690 
			 London 1,820 2,480 26,590 
			 South East 660 1,240 12,660 
			 South West 530 500 8,930 
			 England 4,980 7,250 104,270 
			 
			  2003-04
			 North East 310 580 8,350 
			 North West 730 1,290 18,040 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 590 1,120 16,190 
			 East Midlands 360 610 9,600 
			 West Midlands 610 950 15,600 
			 East of England 680 1,400 11,190 
			 London 2,230 3,100 30,080 
			 South East 880 1,620 15,150 
			 South West 740 1,410 11,230 
			 England 7,120 12,070 135,420 
			 
			  2007-08
			 North East 160 170 3,600 
			 North West 380 510 8,540 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 330 470 7,350 
			 East Midlands 190 270 4,780 
			 West Midlands 330 450 9,160 
			 East of England 310 480 5,910 
			 London 800 970 13,800 
			 South East 320 450 5,510 
			 South West 280 360 4,520 
			 England 3,090 4,140 63,170 
			  Note: Some totals may differ slightly from those in the Statistical Release, due to rounding 
		
	
	Information collected on households in temporary accommodation does not contain detailed ethnicity or disability details, but, since 2006-07, does provide the number of households where the applicant belonged to an ethnic minority group. Table 3 shows the number of ethnic minority households in temporary accommodation by region since 2006-07:
	
		
			  Table 3: Total households in temporary accommodation, at end of each financial year, by ethnicity 
			   2006-07  2007-08 
			   Total in TA  Of which:  ethnic minority  Total in TA  Of which:  ethnic minority 
			 North East 450 10 360 20 
			 North West 2,380 470 2,190 490 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 2,050 220 1,790 270 
			 East Midlands 2,050 160 1,330 110 
			 West Midlands 1,620 230 1,550 450 
			 East of England 5,190 330 4,290 270 
			 London 59,810 35,900 55,500 36,090 
			 South East 8,440 960 6,320 800 
			 South West 5,140 330 4,180 240 
			 England 87,120 38,610 77,510 38,740 
		
	
	Since 1998, information has been collected on the number of people who sleep rough—that is, those who are literally roofless on a single night. A table showing rough sleeper counts by region for the past 10 years is available in the Library of the House.
	Details on rough sleeper ethnicities and disabilities are not collected centrally.

Housing: Low Incomes

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  how many affordable houses are forecast to be built in settlements of less than 10,000 in  (a) 2008,  (b) 2009 and  (c) 2010;
	(2)  how many affordable homes in settlements of less than 10,000 were completed in each year since 1997.

Iain Wright: We have substantially increased our investment in affordable housing, with £8.4 billion being invested initially through the Housing Corporation, and then the Homes and Communities Agency over the next three years. This is planned to deliver 70,000 affordable homes a year by 2010-11, of which 45,000 will be for social rent.
	We have set the Housing Corporation a target to provide 10,300 affordable homes in settlements of less than 3,000 between 2008-09 and 2010-11. We have not set any targets for settlements of between 3,000 and 10,000.
	We have only partial information on affordable housing completions in settlements of between 3,000 and 10,000 which would not provide a representative picture.

Housing: Standards

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether she plans to revise her targets for the decent homes standard to be met by 2010; and if she will make a statement.

Iain Wright: The Government remain committed to making all social housing decent and to increase the proportion of private housing in decent condition occupied by vulnerable groups. Some social landlords will need to go beyond 2010 to make their stock decent and individual dates have been agreed. But based on returns from social landlords we are currently still expecting 95 per cent. decency by 2010. Progress towards meeting the private sector decent homes target is ahead of trajectory.

Travelling People: East of England

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the evidential basis is for the projection in the East of England Single Issue Revision Consultation that the Gypsy and Traveller population in the east of England will show an annual increase of 3 per cent. in the future.

Iain Wright: The East of England Regional Assembly published in February 2008 its draft Single Issue Review "Planning for Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation in the East of England." This will be subject to an Examination in Public in October 2008.
	Guidance on assessing the likely growth in household formation for the period beyond 2011 is contained within the document "Preparing Regional Spatial Strategy reviews on Gypsies and Travellers by regional planning bodies", published in March 2007, a copy of which is available on the Department's website. This report stated that a household growth rate of 3 per cent. a year compound would provide the best indication of long-term requirements in assessing the future need for Gypsy and Traveller pitches.

Children's Centres

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what assessment he has made of the effects of children's centres to local communities.

Beverley Hughes: There is a comprehensive national level evaluation of Sure Start in place, which began in January 2001 and will run until 2010. To date 27 reports have been published, including the latest Impact Study findings in March 2008. These can be found at:
	http://www.surestartgov.uk/research/evaluations/ness/nesspublications/.
	The findings of the latest Impact Study evaluation conducted when the children were three years old found that living in an area with a Children's Centre that was formerly a Sure Start Local Programme (SSLP) was associated with positive impacts on five of the 14 outcomes investigated. Children living in former SSLP areas exhibited more positive social behaviour and greater independence/self regulation, while parents made greater use of support services, exhibited less negative parenting and provided a better home learning environment. The analysis of the most recent data shows beneficial effects for almost all children and families living in SSLP areas and provides almost no evidence of adverse effects on population sub-groups such as workless or lone parent families.

Vocational Guidance

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what recent steps the Government has taken to improve career and further education guidance to young people.

Beverley Hughes: Connexions services were transferred to local authorities in April. This will help to clarify and reinforce shared responsibilities locally for young people's information, advice and guidance (IAG). It will also facilitate the development of better integrated services more attuned to local needs. The Education and Skills Bill will make the delivery of Connexions services a statutory duty of local authorities. It also requires schools to deliver careers education impartially and to have regard to principles of careers education and to good practice guidance linked to the principles.
	In March the Secretary of State wrote to all local authorities, setting out his expectations for the Improvement of IAG, emphasising their key role within 14-19 partnerships for improving IAG to young people on learning options. Furthermore strong emphasis on IAG in the Diploma Gateway process has meant that only those consortia with effective IAG provision are able to deliver the new Diplomas.
	The aforementioned measures provide a context through which the quality of provision will be raised. Further improvements are being made through:
	The launch, in April 2008, of the new IAG support programme which will provide online support and resources, including good practice materials, briefing on key learning and careers issues and high quality careers materials for use in the classroom. The programme also includes the development of an online guide for practitioners which will provide up-to-date, impartial information on learning options that can be printed off for young people and their parents and carers.
	The commissioning of research in 2008 that will help us to profile the skills gaps of careers coordinators in schools. This will, in due course, lead to the development of new continuing professional development provision for careers staff.
	The publication by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) of a new 'Framework for Economic Well-being 11-19: career, work-related learning and enterprise'.
	The commissioning of the Training and Development Agency (TDA) to review the support that they provide for the delivery of careers education in schools.
	The development of arrangements for the provision of a free consultancy service, which will help 14-19 consortia to map their provision against the IAG quality standards and evaluate their strengths and weaknesses. Consortia will be able to draw down help from the Diploma support programme to help them to respond to identified weaknesses.

Animal Welfare: Departmental Responsibilities

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will consider the merits of ensuring the  (a) disclosure of non-commercially sensitive information and data in product records relating to animal testing of cosmetics and  (b) the sharing of such data to avoid the need for repeat experiments in respect of European Council Directive 76/768.

Gareth Thomas: The seventh amendment to the cosmetics directive introduced a requirement that data on animal testing relating to cosmetic products or their ingredients, and performed by manufacturers, their agents or suppliers, should be included in the product information accessible to the competent authorities (Article 7a(1)(h)). This requirement is now contained in the Cosmetic Product (Safety) Regulations 2008 Article 16(1)(i).
	However, the UK has operated a voluntary ban on the testing of cosmetic products on animals since 1996. This ban was made compulsory on 11 September 2004, with the implementation of the Cosmetic Products (Safety) Regulations 2004 (SI 2004/2152), which implement the seventh amendment to the EU Council directive on the safety of cosmetic products and which introduced a ban on the testing of cosmetic products in the EU.
	By March 2009, cosmetic manufacturers will no longer be able to use animals to test any ingredients or combinations of ingredients for cosmetic purposes, even if alternative methods are unavailable. The same deadline sees the introduction of a marketing ban in the Union on any cosmetic product whose ingredients have been tested on animals. The only exception will be certain toxicity tests for which the deadline has been extended for four years to 2013.
	At present virtually the only tests on cosmetic ingredients that are carried out in the EU relate to substances which are already in use in cosmetics and for which safety concerns have been raised, either by or to the Scientific Committee on Consumer Products, (SCCP). If regarded as necessary, any animal tests would normally be carried out by a test house on behalf of the pan-European industry, in collaboration with the Commission and the SCCP.

Consumer Direct: Finance

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform pursuant to the Answer of 11 March 2008,  Official Report, column 251W, on non-departmental public bodies: finance, to the hon. Member for Brent East, what the budgeted operating cost for Consumer Direct is for 2008-09.

Gareth Thomas: Consumer Direct's allocated budget has now been agreed and will be £16.7 million for 2008-09. The budget for 2006-07 and 2007-08 was £19 million.
	Consumer Direct is currently expanding its service to handle first tier consumer advice calls in both the energy and postal sectors as of 1 October 2008. The budget stated above does not include a provision for these additional calls. Funding for these calls will be provided in the first instance by BERR and recovered from industry via a licence fee. The details are still being finalised by BERR but there is an undertaking that Consumer Direct's extra costs will be covered.

Labelling

Si�n James: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will make a statement on the regulations governing food and clothing labelling in the UK; and whether there is a requirement to include country of origin on clothing.

Gareth Thomas: The Textile Products (Indications of Fibre Content) Regulations 1986 (as amended) require that all textile products bear an accurate indication of their fibre content and that the indication should consist only of permitted generic names for fibres. A textile product is a product which contains at least 80 per cent. by weight of textile fibres.
	Generally speaking, there is no requirement in the law of the UK to label as to the origin, care or size of textile products. There is nothing to prevent voluntary labelling as to these matters but this would be subject to the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations (CPRs) 2008, which require traders not to mislead consumers.
	Food labelling regulations are a matter for the Department of Health.

Overseas Trade: China

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what steps he  (a) has taken and  (b) plans to take to increase trade between the United Kingdom and China; how much his Department spent on trade promotion between the United Kingdom and China in 2007-08; and if he will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: The information is as follows.
	 (a) My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform joined my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, at the January 2008 UK-China Summit with Premier Wen, in Beijing, where a new bilateral trade target was agreed of $60 billion trade in goods and services by 2010. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State also attended a parallel business summit, with accompanying business matching eventthe first large joint initiative arising out of a bilateral MoU signed in June 2007 to help promote more balanced bilateral trade between the UK and China. My right hon. Friend also visited Hong Kong and Shenzhen, China on 4-6 June to meet influential business and government leaders, and to promote the strengths of UK business.
	 (b) My right hon. Friend is expected to lead a business delegation to Beijing this autumn to discuss market access issues and practical initiatives to promote bilateral and more balanced trade at the next meeting of the annual bilateral Joint Economic Trade Commission.
	UK Trade and Investment spent 3.213 million on trade promotion in 2007-08, including 1.7 million in grant in aid to the China-Britain Business Council.

Post Offices: Closures

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what advice he has received on the extent to which state aid to the Post Office is permissible under EU law.

Gareth Thomas: The UK Government already compensate Post Office Ltd. for the provision of Services of General Economic Interest (SGEI). The legal base for this is the Community Framework for State Aid in the form of public service compensation. The compensation enables Post Office Ltd. to maintain a network beyond its optimum commercial size and provide the services required of it by the Government.
	Any further public funding of individual post offices would need to be assessed on a case by case basis for its compatibility with the State Aid rules.

Banks

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to publish the draft Banking Reform Bill; and if he will make a statement.

Kitty Ussher: We will be publishing a further consultation on our banking reform proposals shortly, and intend additionally to publish some draft clauses on a consultative basis, before the House rises for summer parliamentary recess. The Government intend to bring forward the legislation this autumn.

Banks: Iran

William Hague: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps are planned to be taken through the Financial Action Task Force to ensure that certain Iranian banks cannot abuse the international banking system to support proliferation activities and terrorism.

Kitty Ussher: The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has expressed concern that the Islamic Republic of Iran's lack of a comprehensive regime for anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) represents a significant vulnerability within the international financial system. In addition to its role in setting and monitoring standards for AML/CFT in general, the FATF has warned the financial sector of the risks posed by Iran and advised jurisdictions on implementation of the financial provisions of UN Security Council Resolutions relating to Iran's nuclear activities.
	The FATF issued statements on Iran in October 2007 and February 2008. These statements warn businesses in the financial sector about the heightened risks of money laundering or terrorist financing arising from the deficiencies in Iran's AML/CFT regime, and recommend that they apply increased scrutiny and due diligence to transactions associated with Iran. The FATF has also met with Iranian authorities to discuss measures to improve Iran's AML/CFT regime. The FATF is keeping the risk posed by Iran under review and discussed progress at its meetings in London this month. In response to these FATF statements, HM Treasury has issued advisory notices to UK businesses on the heightened risk of money laundering or terrorist financing from Iran.
	At its June 2008 meeting in London, the FATF reaffirmed its public statement of 28 February 2008 regarding the anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism risks posed by Uzbekistan, Iran, Pakistan, Turkmenistan and So Tom and Principe, and the northern part of Cyprus. It welcomed the actions taken by its members to advise their financial institutions of these risks, and noted it was concerned about the lack of progress by, in particular, Uzbekistan and Iran. The FATF will continue to assess the situation and take further actions in October, as necessary, to protect the international financial system.
	The FATF has also produced guidance on implementation of the financial provisions of UN Security Council Resolutions relating to Iran's nuclear activities. The FATF published Guidance in July 2007 on Implementing Financial Provisions Of UN Security Council Resolutions To Counter Proliferation Of Weapons Of Mass Destruction, including on implementing targeted asset freezes as required by UNSCR 1747. In October 2007 the FATF published Guidance Regarding The Implementation Of Activity-Based Financial Prohibitions Of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1737; advising jurisdictions on preventative measures to guard against the use of the financial system to support Iran's nuclear programmes.
	A new mandate for the FATF has been agreed under the UK presidency which recognises its increased role in combating proliferation finance; and the FATF will shortly publish a typology study on proliferation finance, detailing the extent of the threat, and the methodologies used by proliferators.

Cemeteries

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will place in the Library a copy of the guidance issued by his Department to local authorities on health and safety inspections of memorials and the staking of gravestones.

Bridget Prentice: A joint letter providing guidance on the need for a sensitive and proportionate response to unstable memorials was issued to all burial authorities in March 2007. A copy has been placed in the Library. We are currently considering, with the Health and Safety Executive and stakeholders, whether any additional guidance in this area would be helpful.

Departmental Buildings

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department spent on  (a) new capital investment and  (b) refurbishment of property in each of the last 10 years, broken down by project.

Michael Wills: The information requested has been placed in the Libraries of the House. The answer only takes account of those bodies that are within the Ministry's accounting boundary. It therefore excludes NDPBs.
	Annexe A sets out the expenditure incurred by the Ministry of Justice (HQ) in refurbishing the Supreme Court Building.
	Her Majesty's Court Service did not exist prior to April 2005. Figures are therefore only available for the least three years and are set out in Annexes B and C.
	Expenditure by Her Majesty's Prison Service on new capital investment/refurbishment of property in each of the last 10 years by project is set out in Annexes D and E.
	The Tribunals Service and Office of Public Guardian have incurred no expenditure on new capital investment/refurbishment of property during the period they have been in existence.
	Aggregated information on how much new capital investment and refurbishment of property in each of the last 10 years, broken down by project in each of the past 10 years is not held centrally by NOMS HQ and the National Probation Service.

Departmental Buildings

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the value of the property held by  (a) his Department and  (b) associated public bodies was at the most recent date for which figures are available.

Michael Wills: The value of property held by  (a) the Ministry is 7,154,531,000 and  (b) associated public bodies is 3,089,176,062. These figures are taken from the Ministry of Justice's draft 2007-08 Resource Accounts which are, as yet, still subject to National Audit Office approval.
	The Departmental value includes MOJ HQ and NOMS HQ. The NOMS HQ value includes the National Probation Service and Her Majesty's Prison Service estate whose property is held under the NOMS estate and is not disclosed within their individual published accounts.
	The associated bodies' value is comprised of the Tribunals Service, Office of the Public Guardian (nil value) and Her Majesty's Courts Service. NDPBs are bodies outside the accounting boundary of the Ministry and have been excluded from this answer.

Departmental Buildings

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how frequently his Department restates the asset values of its building estate.

Michael Wills: Land and buildings are included in the Ministry of Justice accounts on the basis of professional valuations which are conducted for each property at least once every five years. Each property is indexed annually in those years where a professional valuation has not been carried out.

Departmental Buildings

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) new builds and (b) major refurbishments for a cost in excess of 0.5 million were completed by his Department and its predecessor in (i) 2005-06, (ii) 2006-07 and (iii) 2007-08.

Michael Wills: The number of new builds and major refurbishments with a value of excess of 0.5 million completed by the Ministry and its predecessor in (i) 2005-06 (ii) 2006-07 and (iii) 2007-08 are set out in the following table.
	
		
			   New Builds  Major Refurbishments 
			 2005-06 23 33 
			 2006-07 27 51 
			 2007-08 22 56 
		
	
	The answer only takes account of those bodies that are within the Ministry's accounting boundary. It therefore excludes NDPBs.
	No new builds or major refurbishments with a value in excess of 0.5 million were completed in 2005-06, 2006-07 or 2007-08 in MOJ HQ, Tribunals or the Office of the Public Guardian. There are no records held centrally by NOMS HQ and the National Probation Service on new builds/major refurbishments completed in 2005-06, 2006-07 and none were completed of that value in 2007-08.

Departmental Pay

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what proportion of staff in his Department received bonus payments in 2007; what the total amount of bonuses paid was; what the largest single payment was; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Wills: The core Ministry of Justice employs staff previously employed on several sets different terms and conditions, each with their own legacy arrangements for bonus payments.
	The information provided as follows relates to former DCA senior civil service (SCS) and grades below SCS. For the years reported prior to 2007-08, the data exclude payments to magistrates courts staff (who became civil servants within this Department in April 2005 and whose terms and conditions did normally allow for payment of performance or special bonuses) and staff in the Tribunals Service and who joined former DCA on 1 April 2006 from other Government Departments about whom information is not available to us prior to 2007.
	
		
			  Senior civil service bonuses received during the past five years for staff on former DCA terms and conditions 
			  Paid in calendar year  Staff receiving bonuses  Proportion receiving bonuses (percentage)  Total amount awarded ()  Largest award () 
			 2003 43 46 170,557 6,500 
			 2004 69 72 268,900 11,200 
			 2005 105 84 537,687 12,690 
			 2006 118 79 821,750 17,500 
			 2007 116 77 866,500 22,500 
		
	
	No bonuses have yet been paid to members of the SCS during 2008.
	Bonus payments to staff below the SCS in the core Ministry of Justice are either 'performance bonuses' or 'special bonuses'.
	
		
			  Performance bonuses awarded during the past five years to staff on former DCA terms and conditions (not SCS) 
			  Awarded for performance in year  Paid in calendar year  Staff receiving bonuses  Proportion receiving bonuses (percentage)  Total amount awarded ()  Largest award () 
			 2002-03 2004 1,430 9 572,000 400 
			 2003-04 2005 1,881 13.3 752,400 400 
			 2004-05 2006 1,995 14.1 798,000 400 
			 2005-06 2007 1,848 13.2 739,000 400 
			 2006-07 2007 2,419 16.3 967,966 400 
			  Notes: 1. Performance bonuses are paid to staff who are assessed to have performed over and above the standard expected from them over the course of the whole performance year.  2. Data referring to proportion of staff receiving bonuses refer only to staff on relevant terms and conditions (i.e. only include former DCA and Court Service staff but exclude staff on magistrates courts terms and conditions).  3. Information on performance bonus payments for 2008 is not yet available. These payments are implemented as part of the annual pay award which will be paid in August.  4. The information contained above excludes payments to staff on Home Office terms and conditions who transferred to the Ministry of Justice with the establishment of the Ministry in May 2007. Details of any payments to these staff are included in the answer provided to this question by the Home Office. 
		
	
	
		
			  Special bonuses received during the past five years for staff on former DCA terms and conditions (not SCS) 
			  Paid in financial year  Staff receiving bonuses  Proportion receiving bonuses (percentage)  Total amount awarded ()  Largest award () 
			 2002-03 995 7 253,258  
			 2003-04 447 3.1 343,347  
			 2004-05 1,649 11.6 412,898 5,304 
			 2005-06 1,809 12.8 487,753 5,000 
			 2006-07 3,773 31 894,169 5,000 
			 2007-08(1) 5,327 19 2,348,520 4,000 
			 (1 )Reflects increased staff complementsee note 5. 1. Special bonuses are paid to staff 'in year' for exceptional contribution over and above that normally expected.  2. Data shown in the table shows payments for each financial year from 2002-03. Comprehensive information is not yet available for 2007-08.  3. Data covering largest award is not available prior to 2004 when the current recognition and reward scheme was launched.  4. Proportions refer to the number of staff eligible to be awarded special bonuses under their terms and conditions.  5. 2007-08 data covers from 1 April 2007 to 31 May 2008. From 1 August 2007 staff eligible for bonuses under this scheme included staff on former MCS terms and conditions and those staff who joined former DCA from the Tribunals Service. 
		
	
	HM Prison Service became an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice on 9 May 2007.
	Information on the number and proportion of staff receiving special bonuses, the total amount of bonuses awarded and the largest payment in each year within the public sector Prison Service is contained in the following table. Payments made to staff as part of the normal staff appraisal system are not included.
	
		
			  Public sector Prison Service special bonuses recorded 2003-04 to  June 2007 
			  Paid in financial year  Staff receiving bonuses  Proportion receiving bonuses (percentage)  Total amount awarded ()  Largest award () 
			 2002-03 1,268 3 463,449 4,000 
			 2003-04 1,983 4 740,443 4,000 
			 2004-05 3,375 7 868,594 5,000 
			 2005-06 3,004 6 983,273 15,802 
			 2006-07 2,432 5 873,141 5,000 
			 2007/08 3,607 7 1,571,037 20,000 
			  Note:  Special bonus payments are now administered by the Prison Service's Shared Service Centre. Data are recorded directly through the payment process rather than as a separate manual process as was the case prior to 2007-08. This change in process has lead to the apparent increase in bonus payments in 2007-08. Incorrect coding of bonus payments is also known to have caused some distortion in special bonus statistics.

Electoral Register

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which organisations have made representations to his Department in favour of introducing individual electoral registration.

Bridget Prentice: A number of organisations including the Electoral Commission, the Association of Electoral Administrators, the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Mangers and the European Commission for Democracy through Law (the Venice Commission) have all made representations to the Ministry of Justice in favour of introducing individual registration. In addition, the Committee on Standards in Public Life recommended that the Government move towards a system of individual registration in Great Britain in its report of January 2007.
	The Government are committed to the principle of individual registration. But this will be a far-reaching reform, and it will need to be undertaken with great careboth to make sure a new system is robust, and to ensure that it properly tackles the problem of under-registration in Great Britain.

Electoral Register: Databases

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the latest timetable is for the Co-ordinated Online Record of Electors database to be fully operational; and which parts of the United Kingdom the database will cover.

Bridget Prentice: It is not possible for me to provide a firm date on which I expect CORE to be fully operational until the CORE keeper has been confirmed. The Electoral Commission is the Government's preferred choice to fulfil this role, and discussions between my officials and those in the Commission are continuing on this point. In the meantime good progress is being made: electoral register data standards are to be implemented by 1 December 2009. Throughout 2008 we will be talking with all users, including political parties and Electoral Registration Officers, to define the CORE Service Model. I expect this work to be completed in early 2009.
	The CORE service will cover England, Scotland and Wales.

Magistrates: Manpower

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many magistrates there were in each local authority area in England and Wales in  (a) 1996-97 and  (b) the most recent period for which figures are available.

Jack Straw: Magistrates are appointed and assigned to Local Justice Areas by Advisory Committees. Advisory Committee areas do not accord with local authority areas, it is therefore not possible to provide an answer in the format requested. In  (a) 1996-97 figures were collected on a calendar year basis. Figures showing breakdown by Advisory Committee are not available for those two years.
	There were 30,326 magistrates at the year ending 31 December 1996. There were 30,374 magistrates at the year ending 31 December 1997.
	Figures are now collected on a financial year basis, the following table provides a breakdown of the numbers of magistrates in each Advisory Committee area for the financial year ending 31 March 2008.
	
		
			  Advisory committee  Number 
			 Avon 311 
			 Barnsley 112 
			 Batley and Dewsbury 92 
			 Bedfordshire 309 
			 Berkshire 373 
			 Birmingham 420 
			 Bolton 199 
			 Bradford 300 
			 Bristol 280 
			 Buckinghamshire 373 
			 Bury 176 
			 Calderdale 146 
			 Cambridgeshire 363 
			 Carmarthen 144 
			 Central London 449 
			 Ceredigion 54 
			 Cheshire 476 
			 Clwyd 308 
			 Cornwall 192 
			 Coventry 235 
			 Cumbria 287 
			 Derbyshire 414 
			 Devon 354 
			 Doncaster 189 
			 Dorset 333 
			 Dudley 206 
			 Durham 289 
			 East Sussex 446 
			 Essex 613 
			 Gateshead 122 
			 Gloucestershire 246 
			 Gwent 325 
			 Gwynedd 105 
			 Hampshire 777 
			 Hereford and Worcester 477 
			 Hertfordshire 472 
			 Huddersfield 106 
			 Humberside 277 
			 Isle of Wight 69 
			 Keighley 123 
			 Kent 915 
			 Kingston on Hull 160 
			 Knowsley 76 
			 Lancashire 1,150 
			 Leeds 436 
			 Leicester 317 
			 Leicestershire 242 
			 Lincolnshire 373 
			 Liverpool 327 
			 Manchester 397 
			 Mid Glamorgan 244 
			 Newcastle on Tyne 251 
			 Norfolk 449 
			 North Cleveland 104 
			 North East London 620 
			 North Sefton 89 
			 North Tyneside 152 
			 North West London 787 
			 North Yorkshire 402 
			 Northamptonshire 435 
			 Northumberland 205 
			 Nottingham 436 
			 Nottinghamshire 300 
			 Oldham 179 
			 Oxfordshire 315 
			 Pembroke 68 
			 Plymouth 165 
			 Pontefract 86 
			 Powys 87 
			 Rochdale 185 
			 Rotherham 116 
			 Salford 176 
			 Sandwell 250 
			 Sheffield 307 
			 Shropshire 228 
			 Solihull 170 
			 Somerset 260 
			 South Cleveland 341 
			 South East London 629 
			 South Glamorgan 352 
			 South Sefton 132 
			 South Tyneside 116 
			 South West London 752 
			 St Helens 154 
			 Staffordshire 577 
			 Stockport 165 
			 Suffolk 272 
			 Sunderland 215 
			 Surrey 361 
			 Sutton Coldfield 130 
			 Tameside 161 
			 Trafford 156 
			 Wakefield 95 
			 Walsall 112 
			 Warwickshire 203 
			 West Glamorgan 252 
			 West Sussex 388 
			 Wigan 185 
			 Wiltshire 272 
			 Wirral 249 
			 Wolverhampton 149 
			 Total 29,419

Prisoners: Voting Rights

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to the answer by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Ministry of Justice of 6 May 2008,  Official Report,  House of Lords, columns 59-60WA, on prisoners: voting rights, if he will place in the Library a copy of the information submitted so far to the Committee of Ministers.

Bridget Prentice: Further to my noble Friend's (Lord Hunt) answer of 6 May 2008,  Official Report, House of Lords, columns 59-60WA, I have placed a copy of the information submitted to the Committee of Ministers in regard to prisoners voting rights in the Libraries of both Houses.

Prisons: Non-Domestic Rates

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether prisons pay charges to local authorities for the collection of rubbish generated by prisoners' dwellings on top of business rates.

Maria Eagle: Disposal of waste is a matter for local management across the prison estate. As prisons are much more than simply 'dwellings' for prisoners, the waste comes from several sources. There is the equivalent of domestic waste but there is additional waste generated by industrial, commercial, horticultural and office activities. The majority of prisons now sort waste for sale, recycling or re-use. Waste that cannot be disposed of in this fashion, generally prisons arrange for commercial collection and disposal. There is one known exception where a prison pays a collection charge to the local authority.

Prospect Project

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice in which towns the Prospect Project was located; what the cost was of each building used for the project; and which buildings are still in use.

David Hanson: The Prospects projects were based in Bristol (two hostels, one male one female), Exeter (one male), Preston (one male) and Merseyside (one male).
	Capital costs for the Prospects buildings programme were 8.539 million: Exeter 1.814 million, Bristol (male) 1.961 million, Bristol (female) 1.489 million, Preston 1.315 million and Merseyside 1.96 million.
	The programme has been in the process of being decommissioned since January and four of the five properties were returned to the National Offender Management Service at the end of May. One property in Bristol is still being used to deliver the community based aspect of the service for Bristol male and female.

Voting Methods

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 6 May 2008,  Official Report, columns 794-5W, on voting methods, what assessment his Department or its predecessor departments made of the effect of such weekend voting on turnout in these pilot schemes.

Michael Wills: A full assessment of the advance voting pilot in Camden in May 2002 was published by the Electoral Commission in its report, 'Modernising Electionsa strategic evaluation of the 2002 electoral pilot schemes'. Manchester city council carried out its own assessment of its pilot scheme of May 2000.

Student Finance

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what assessment his Department has made of the financial effect on English students studying in Scotland of the proposals for a local income tax in Scotland.

Bill Rammell: As the Secretary of State for Scotland has made clear a local income tax would not be local having been fixed centrally, and it will effect 55,000 students.

Science and Technology Facilities Council

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what recent discussions he has had with the Science and Technology Facilities Council on its budget.

Ian Pearson: As part of the Science settlement, STFC's budget will increase by 13.6 per cent. or 185 million to a total of 1.9 billion over the CSR period. I have not had recent discussions with STFC on its budget. STFC will decide how much of their funding they spend on each of their programmes. STFC is currently considering the findings of its own programmatic review before finalising the use of its allocated budget which it will publish on 8 July.

Research and Development

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what measures he has considered to improve the advice and support given by his Department to companies for research and development opportunities.

Ian Pearson: The DIUS White Paper, Innovation Nation, set out policy commitments including the aim to drive increased demand for innovative products through Government procurement, and to reform the Small Business Research Initiative.
	The White Paper also set out policy commitments to give an innovation voucher to at least 1,000 businesses a year by 2010-11 to double the number of Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, and to provide support for business innovation through the Technology Strategy Board and Energy Technologies Institute.

Apprentices

Andrew Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what steps he is taking to ensure the quality of apprenticeships for young people and adults.

David Lammy: Raising quality is integral to our ambitious plans set out in World-Class Apprenticeships. We are establishing the National Apprenticeship Service from April 2009 to ensure the provision of high quality apprenticeships in England. They will have responsibility for building on the current excellent completion rate of 63 per cent. which has risen from 24 per cent. in 2001/02. In the meantime, the Learning and Skills Council is progressing with its work to agree minimum levels of performance for apprenticeships; developing a new blueprint which clearly defines the core elements of an apprenticeship and specific training requirements; and working with the new Learning and Skills Improvement Service to secure continuous improvement in the provision of apprenticeships.

Apprentices: Finance

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how much funding was allocated for the development and maintenance of apprenticeships in Chorley constituency in each year since 1997.

David Lammy: Information on Learning and Skills Council (LSC) funding allocated to Lancashire LSC for apprenticeships is provided in the following table. LSC funding data are only available from 2005/06 and by LSC area or individual learning provider.
	
		
			  Lancashire LSC apprenticeships funding allocation 
			   Apprenticeships funding allocation ( million) 
			 2005/06 23.5 
			 2006/07 25.2 
			 2007/08 26.4 
			  Source:  Learning and Skills Council.

Apprentices: Suffolk

Richard Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many apprenticeships were  (a) started and  (b) completed in Suffolk in each of the last five years.

David Lammy: The number of apprenticeships starts and completions in Suffolk in each of the last five years is given in the following table:
	
		
			  Apprenticeship starts and completions in Suffolk( 1)  local authority 
			   Starts  Completions 
			 2002/03 3,230 850 
			 2003/04 3,780 980 
			 2004/05 3,130 860 
			 2005/06 2,640 1,150 
			 2006/07 2,530 1,820 
			 (1) Area is based on the home postcode of the learner.  Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Includes all ages and both apprenticeships and advanced apprenticeships.  Source: The LSC Individualised Learner Record

Departmental Training

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what training courses were  (a) available to and  (b) taken up by civil servants in his Department in the last 12 months.

David Lammy: The Department was formed on 28 June 2007 from DTI (now BERR) and DfES (now DCSF). The Department accesses a range of corporate and professional skills development activities through these former departments, in addition to internal provision in DIUS and that procured through external suppliers. Provision includes access to formal classroom training, e-learning, coaching, mentoring, and short seminars on a range of subjects. We also ran over 30 learning and development activities on 22 May as part of Learning at Work Day in which a quarter of our people participated.
	We link our learning and development provision to the Professional Skills for Government framework, the Government Skills Strategy and to our business and improvement objectives enabling us to live the policies we prepare for Government.
	The Department places great emphasis on developing the skills of our people and we are preparing a skills strategy for DIUS which will continue to ensure we focus our development effectively to deliver the DIUS skills agenda.
	Programmes which can be accessed support the following:
	Leadership Development
	Policy Development Skills
	Strategic Thinking
	Analysis and Use of Evidence
	Programme and Project Management
	Financial Management
	People Management
	Working with Ministers
	Drafting and Writing
	Communications
	Professional Qualifications such as accountancy.
	In addition DIUS regularly provides short business related seminars on key topic areas such as engagement and collaboration using social media and innovation through policy delivery.
	Our policy is to promote the development of our people through a wide range of innovative learning and development opportunities which are not reliant solely on formal classroom training.

Foundation Degrees

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many foundation degree courses in English institutions were previously on offer as higher national certificates and higher national diplomas.

Bill Rammell: This information is not held centrally. Higher national certificates and higher national diplomas have served employers well in the past but the numbers applying for these courses have been declining in recent years. Foundation degrees are a modern qualification, developed in partnership with employers to address high level skill needs, and their popularity is evident through the growth to 73,000 current students.

Further Education: Community Relations

Peter Soulsby: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what assessment he has made of the contribution further education colleges make to the promotion of community cohesion.

Bill Rammell: Further education colleges contribute in many ways to community cohesion with the delivery of ESOL training being the most direct. Many FE institutions also provide a key opportunity for young people and adults to mix with others who have different experiences, cultures and faiths; building understanding, tolerance and mutual respect. As a result, FE colleges have an important role in helping young people and adults develop the sense of shared values.

Higher Education: Admissions

Robert Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills if his Department will commission independent research to assess the effect on all socio-economic groups of his Department's widening participation initiatives relating to medical studies.

Bill Rammell: Aimhigher is our primary vehicle for widening participation in higher education and has a comprehensive evaluation strategy in place which is designed to show the impact of the programme over time.
	The Department will not be commissioning specific research to assess the impact of widening participation initiatives relating to medicine. However, the Department monitors and analyses data by subject of study and socio-economic class.
	DIUS will be gathering evidence on access to the professions (including medicine) to feed into the independent review of fees.

Higher Education: Admissions

Robert Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what  (a) discussions he has had and  (b) steps he has taken with the Department of Health to improve widening participation initiatives to encourage students from all socio-economic groups into medicine.

Bill Rammell: The two Departments meet regularly to discuss education and health issues, including initiatives to support fairer access to the health professions.
	Several medical schools run schemes, such as the extended medical programme, to encourage applications from bright students from disadvantaged or non-traditional backgrounds.
	Aimhigher is our primary vehicle for widening participation in higher education. The Aimhigher Healthcare Strand has been developed in partnership with the Department of Health and HEFCE. Aimhigher has a comprehensive evaluation strategy in place which is designed to show the impact of the programme over time.

Higher Education: Northamptonshire

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills when he expects the Higher Education Funding Council for England to make a decision on the proposed new multi-campus university for North Northamptonshire.

Bill Rammell: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State was pleased to meet a delegation from Northamptonshire to discuss the opportunities provided by our new University Challenge policy. The Funding Council will shortly be launching a consultation document to help those who want to extend higher education in North Northamptonshire and elsewhere to develop their plans for submission to the Funding Council and the other funding bodies we expect to support such projects.

Technology: Research

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what plans his Department has to fund research into low and zero carbon technologies in the next three years.

Ian Pearson: Research Council expenditure on energy research and training has more than doubled since 2003 and, over the period 2008-09 to 2010-11, will approach 300 million.
	The Energy Technologies Institute will invest up to 1 billion over the next 10 years and the Technology Strategy Board is also expanding its portfolio of activities through a range of initiatives including Innovation Platforms.

Vocational Training

Tom Levitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what steps he plans to take to promote the right of employees to request access to skills training.

David Lammy: Subject to the outcome of the current consultation and the passage of legislation on 'time to train' through the House, we expect to introduce a new right enabling up to 22 million employees in England to request time to train from their employer in 2010.
	We will build on our current skills communications and marketing campaigns to promote time to train, help employers prepare for its introduction and ensure it helps them drive their businesses forward.

Wood

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how much timber and timber products were procured by his Department originating from independently verified legal and sustainable sources or from a licensed FLEGT partner since its establishment; and at what cost.

David Lammy: Details of exactly how much timber and timber products were procured, and precise amounts of expenditure thereon could be isolated from wider expenditure only on office fixture, furniture and other items at disproportionate cost. However, I can confirm that all timber, including that in all of the timber based products procured for DIUS, originated from legal and sustainable sources. There are no FLEGT licence schemes in place as yet.

Bangladesh: Politics and Government

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent steps the Government have taken to assist in the development of democracy in Bangladesh.

Shahid Malik: During my recent visit to Bangladesh, I reiterated that the UK's interests, like those of the Bangladeshi people, are best served by a stable, prosperous and democratic Bangladesh. I met the Bangladesh Finance Adviser, and the Bangladesh Chief of Army Staff and expressed the UK's support for the roadmap for national elections before the end of 2008. I also repeated the UK's call to relax the provisions of the State of Emergency in Bangladesh, in order to facilitate conditions for the preparation of free and fair elections. I publicly urged all sides, including the political parties, to engage and participate positively in the democratic processes to bring a smooth transition to an elected government, which can sustain credible democracy thereafter. Also, I asserted the UK's belief that a return to the violent and confrontational politics of 2006 could never sustain democracy in Bangladesh.
	The UK, through DFID, is providing practical support to democratic processes in Bangladesh. We are currently providing 10 million to the Government of Bangladesh in support of the development of a new photographic voter roll and National ID Card. This will help to eliminate 'ghost voters', and to provide a fair, safe and transparent election.
	We are also providing 2.1 million to the national election programme aimed at supporting domestic NGOs to provide domestic and international monitoring of the election; and 2.8 million for 'BBC Sanglap' in support of a Question Time style debate show on television and radio in Bangladesh that encourages political/public dialogue. Both programmes are designed to minimise the scope for electoral fraud and reduce the risk of political parties boycotting the elections.

Burma: Politics and Government

John MacDougall: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the humanitarian situation in Burma.

Douglas Alexander: The cyclone that hit Burma on 2 May was one of the worst humanitarian disasters since the Asian Tsunami of 2004. The official Burmese government death toll is 84,537 dead with 53,836 missing, and the UN estimates the total number of people badly affected to be in the region of 2.4 million. The Red Cross estimates on the basis of reports from 22 organisations working in Burma that between 69,000 and 128,000 were killed. DFID estimates that of the affected population, 300,000 remain extremely vulnerable and require immediate humanitarian assistance.
	Some progress has been made in improving access to the affected areas by international humanitarian workers. The rate of delivery and volume of relief goods has increased since the UN/ASEAN conference on 25 May, but the UN estimates that approximately 1.1 million of the 2.4 million cyclone victims have yet to receive assistance. Some areas are just now being reached for the first time. However, the ASEAN's joint assessment process (PONJAPost Nargis Joint Assessment) is under way and appears to be progressing well.
	The UN Flash Appeal has requested US$201 million and is 63.6 per cent. funded (received funds not including pledges). A revised Humanitarian Appeal is expected in early July. DFID, having committed 27.5 million, is a leading donor. Our support is helping organisations provide immediate humanitarian assistance to victims of the cyclone, such as shelter materials, food, clean water and household items to replace those that have been lost.

Departmental Vetting

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what procedures his Department follows for checking the criminal records of employees; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: The Department for International Development (DFID) follows the centrally mandated Baseline Standard clearance procedure for all individuals working on DFID premises. This includes a criminal record check of unspent convictions through the organisation Disclosure Scotland. Staff requiring a higher, national security vetting clearance, will have their criminal records checked against spent as well as unspent convictions.

Developing Countries: Agriculture

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps the Government has taken to provide aid to developing countries targeted at poor farmers who are living at subsistence level.

Douglas Alexander: The Department for International Development (DFID) believes that poor farmers, if properly supported, have the potential to contribute significantly to reducing hunger and poverty by growing food for their families and the immediate community. This also contributes to overall economic growth. At the recent Rome Food Summit the UK called on all donors, other international organisations, developing country governments, the private sector and civil society to double our efforts to tackle hunger and poverty under a Global Partnership for Agriculture and Food (GPAF). DFID works directly on agriculture in more than 20 countries, investing 120 million a year. In Africa and Asia DFID also supports a range of social protection programmes. In Africa alone we spend 55 million a year on rural safety nets which deliver social transfers to 8 million poor farmers.
	An increasing amount of DFID's funding is now going through multilateral channels. The European Commission and the World Bank are both significantly increasing the amount that they are committing to agriculture. This year's World Development Report, published by the World Bank, supported by DFID through funding and technical inputs, is devoted to the subject of agriculture and development. It highlights the need to provide support to poor farmers, and to provide alternative income opportunities in rural areas. DFID is also a leading supporter of the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme, CAADP, an Africa-led initiative looking to find the best ways of addressing the primary MDG target of poverty and hunger.

European Development Fund

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what contributions his Department makes to the management of the European Development Fund; how co-operation with other member states is managed; and what steps have been taken to improve co-ordination.

Gareth Thomas: The UK takes a proactive role at the European Development Fund (EDF) Committee, which makes decisions on the EDF. The contributions made by UK Officials at these Committees are based on advice from DFID country offices and other UK Government Departments. Co-operation is managed effectively with other member states by formally and exchanging views, before and during Committee meetings, and developing common positions when appropriate.
	At a country level, a number of steps have been taken by the Commission itself to improve co-ordination. When the Commission developed their recent Country Strategy Papers (CSP) under the 10(th) EDF, the Commission organised discussions to ensure complementarity with other bilateral programmes. In some cases, this went further. In South Africa and Sierra Leone discussions led to a joint CSP between the EC and other member states with a presence in-country.

Joint Country Strategy for South Africa

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what resources his Department plans to commit to the Joint Country Strategy for South Africa; and whether the EU or the South African government will administer this initiative.

Gillian Merron: The joint European Union Strategy Paper (EU-CSP) was signed in 2007 between the European Union, 10 member states (including the UK), and the South African Government. The Strategy was jointly drafted and agreed with the South African National Treasury.
	The EU-CSP supports the priorities of the Government of South Africa (GoSA). Donors have agreed to split responsibilities for different sectors. The UK leads on the employment promotion theme and has established a working group designed to encourage co-operation between donors and Government Departments.
	The EU is responsible for administering the strategy, working closely with the South African International Donor Co-ordination (IDC) Department of the National Treasury, which manages international donor relationships.
	The UK will provide 20 million annually in bilateral funding to South Africa, between 2008 to 2011. This funding will be spent in line with the EU-CSP Business Plan.

South Asia: Primary Education

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what research his Department has commissioned on levels of enrolment in primary education in South Asia in the last three years.

Douglas Alexander: All Department for International Development (DFID) programmes have a main focus on primary enrolment as part of our commitment to and assessment of progress towards the Millennium Development Goals. In each country, as part of the regular monitoring we undertake jointly with governments and other donors, regular analysis of enrolment data as well as research into specific issues related to enrolment takes place. This enables us to understand the constraints to access faced by particular groups, especially girls, and support interventions aimed at enrolling the hard to reach.
	In addition to this country level work, our Central Research Department has commissioned a major international study on access to education which includes India among the sample countries.

UN Country Pilot Scheme

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when the expansion of the one UN country pilot scheme to a further 30 states is expected to start.

Gareth Thomas: The President of the General Assembly has asked for a report on progress in the eight One UN country pilots. We expect the report to be discussed in the coming weeks. Following this, we do not expect that there will be a formal timetable for an expansion of the one UN country pilots. Instead, developing countries that wish to adopt a 'delivering as one' approach are expected to do so as they agree new development assistance frameworks with the UN. In addition other countries, such as Malawi, are already coming forward to adopt principles of good practice from the One UN pilots.

United Nations Children Fund

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether his Department's relationship with the United Nations Children Fund has been used to help reduce child poverty in the UK.

Gareth Thomas: The Department for International Development (DFID) does not directly support the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to reduce child poverty in the United Kingdom. DFID contributes central funding of 21 million a year to support UNICEF's Medium Term Strategic Plan (2006-09) which focuses on the poorest countries to address the causes and results of child poverty.
	In partnership with Sweden and Canada we are helping UNICEF to improve organisational performance at all levels, assisting them to fulfil their global mandate to promote the rights of the child to survival, development, protection and women's full enjoyment of human rights. By enhancing their effectiveness UNICEF can work to improve the lives of all children worldwide.

Dental Services

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dental accident and emergency units there are in England.

Ann Keen: There are 203 major multi specialty consultant led accident and emergency (A and E) units in England. Major multi specialty A and E units accept all accident and emergency patients including dental emergencies unless otherwise specified. There are also 82 consultant led single speciality A and E units, of which five have been specifically self reported by the NHS as dental units.
	Minor dental emergencies such as acute toothache are usually treated through primary dental care out of hours services. Out of hours primary care is provided through high street dentists and in some areas local dental access centres. Major emergencies requiring maxo facial surgery would be referred either direct or via A and E to these specialist secondary care services.

Dietary Supplements

Brian Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what progress was made at the Working Group of the Council of Ministers held in June 2008 to discuss the setting of maximum permitted levels for vitamins and minerals in food supplements under the provisions of Article 5 of the Food Supplements Directive;
	(2)  when he next plans to discuss with his European counterparts the objectives of the Government for the setting of maximum permitted levels for nutrients in food supplements; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  whether the regulatory impact assessment to be conducted on the future proposed maximum levels for vitamins and minerals in food supplements will include an assessment of impact upon  (a) consumer choice,  (b) specialist small and medium sized manufacturers,  (c) specialist health food retailers and  (d) public health.

Dawn Primarolo: The European Commission has confirmed that the next European Commission-led working group meeting with member states on setting maximum and minimum levels of vitamins and minerals in food supplements will be held on 27 June.
	We have been advised by the Food Standards Agency that their officials are planning a further round of bilateral meetings with their counterparts in other member states to build on discussions held at the working group meeting.
	The potential impact on all stakeholders of the European Commission's proposals for setting maximum and minimum levels will be assessed in the associated impact assessment, according to Government guidance issued by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.

Doctors: Working Hours

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what account the agreement reached on the amendment of the Working Time Directive took of the European Court of Justice judgments in the SiMap and Jaeger cases; what provision the agreement makes for the treatment of on-call time; what amendments to the Directive are foreseen as a result; and if he will make a statement.

Ann Keen: The European Council agreed that the inactive part of on-call time should not count as work and for compensatory rest (for missed rest) to be taken within a reasonable period. The text now moves to the European Parliament for their consideration as part of the codecision process.
	The Government, like the majority of member states supported this text and we have always considered that the SiMAP and Jaeger judgments took the principle of what should be included as working time too far.

Foetuses: Surgery

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which hospitals perform in utero surgery; and if he will make a statement.

Ann Keen: Information is not available in the format requested. The table shows the number of finished consultant episodes (FCEs) for surgical operations performed on a foetus by hospital trust in England in 2006-07.
	
		
			   FCEs 
			 United Bristol Healthcare National Health Service Trust 33 
			 Harrogate and District National Health Service Foundation Trust * 
			 Ipswich Hospital National Health Service Trust * 
			 Southampton University Hospitals National Health Service Trust 27 
			 Sheffield Teaching Hospitals National Health Service Foundation Trust 19 
			 King's College Hospital National Health Service Foundation Trust * 
			 Birmingham Women's Health Care National Health Service Trust 37 
			 Hammersmith Hospitals National Health Service Trust 12 
			 Leeds Teaching Hospitals National Health Service Trust 8 
			 Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals National Health Service Trust 29 
			 Central Manchester and Manchester Children's University Hospital * 
			 Nottingham University Hospitals National Health Service Trust 18 
			 County Durham and Darlington National Health Service Foundation Trust * 
			 Total 191 
			  Notes: 1. Data quality Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) are compiled from data sent by over 300 NHS trusts, and primary care trusts (PCTs) in England. Data is also received from a number of independent sector organisations for activity commissioned by the English NHS. The Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data via HES processes. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain.  2. FCE A FCE is defined as a period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. The figures do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the year. 3. All operations count of episodes These figures represent a count of all FCE's where the procedure was mentioned in any of the 12 (four prior to 2002-03) operation fields in a HES record. A record is only included once in each count, even if an operation is mentioned in more than one operation field of the record.  4. Low numbers Due to reasons of confidentiality, figures between one and five have been suppressed and replaced with '*' (an asterisk). Where it was possible to identify numbers from the total due to a single suppressed number in a row or column, an additional smallest number have been suppressed in order to protect patient confidentiality. 5. Ungrossed data Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (ie the data are ungrossed).

Health Foods

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what date he last visited a health food shop in his Ministerial capacity; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has not visited a health food store in his ministerial capacity.

NHS: Managers

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidelines exist on the appointment of medical directors to  (a) primary care trusts and  (b) strategic health authorities.

Ann Keen: There is currently no departmental guidance on the appointment of Medical Directors to primary care trusts and strategic health authorities.

Strokes: Speech Impaired

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what  (a) funding and  (b) advice is being made available to Wakefield Council for the commissioning of communication disability support groups for those who have had strokes;
	(2)  how many people were diagnosed with a stroke-related communication disability in  (a) Wakefield district primary care trust area,  (b) West Yorkshire strategic health authority area and  (c) Hemsworth constituency in each of the last five years.

Ann Keen: The new National Stroke Strategy, published in December 2007 (copies of which are available in the Library), sets out 20 quality markers for the provision of high quality treatment and care for adult stroke survivors. Of those quality markers, seven link directly to the kind of support and services which those who have had a stroke and their carers need in the community. These include support with communication disabilities and other high quality rehabilitation, information, advice, practical and peer support throughout the care pathway, in line with individual need.
	In addition to the funding that has gone to primary care trusts, 105 million of central funding over three years will support implementation. This includes 45 million to local authorities (LAs), including Wakefield metropolitan district council, to help them develop or accelerate their existing provision of long-term support to those who live with the effects of a stroke. The strategy recognises that some people who have had a stroke, including those with aphasia and other communication difficulties, will have specific support needs. We expect that LAs will use some the new funding we have made available to meet these needs in line with local needs and priorities.
	Information on the number of people diagnosed with a stroke-related communication disability is not collected centrally.

Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Scheme

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which 10 UK universities have the highest number of students supported by the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Scheme.

Jim Murphy: The 12 universities with the highest number of Foreign and Commonwealth Office-funded scholars under the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan in 2007-08 (three universities are in 10(th) equal place) are shown in the following table:
	
		
			  University  Total 
			 University of Oxford 32 
			 University of Cambridge 13 
			 London School of Economics and Political Science 9 
			 King's College London 5 
			 London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine 5 
			 University of Sussex 4 
			 School of Oriental and African Studies 3 
			 University College London 3 
			 University of Warwick 3 
			 Goldsmiths College 2 
			 University of Durham 2 
			 University of Edinburgh 2 
			 Institutions with one award holder 9 
			 Total 92

European External Action Service

Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will place in the Library a copy of the European Commission's report on the COREPER meetings on the European External Action Service held on 7 and 13 May 2008.

Jim Murphy: holding answer 13 June 2008
	It is for the European Commission to decide what it does with internal records of meetings attended by its officials.

Western Sahara: Politics and Government

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has received representations from the UN on Morocco's claim of sovereignty over the territory of Western Sahara; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Murphy: The UK has not received representations from the UN. on Morocco's claim of sovereignty over the territory of Western Sahara. The UK regards the sovereignty of Western Sahara as undetermined pending UN efforts to find a solution. The UK fully supports the efforts of the UN Secretary-General and his Personal Envoy to the Western Sahara, Peter van Walsum, to achieve a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution, which will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.
	UN Security Council Resolution 1813 of November 2007 extended the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara and called on the parties to continue negotiations under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General. The UK fully supports these negotiations and has called on the parties to continue to engage in the process in a spirit of realism and compromise.
	The UK maintains regular contact with Mr. van Walsum, both at the UN in New York and when he has visited the UK.